Domaine Marquis d'Angerville, Champans Volnay Premier Cru, Burgundy, France, 2023

Overview of the Wine
Domaine Marquis d’Angerville is one of Burgundy's most sought after estates, and perfectly exemplifies the identity of Volnay. D'Angerville's list of holdings touches all of the village’s great terroirs, including one of the most picturesque vineyards in Volnay, the monopole of the estate, Clos des Ducs. The domaine started bottling its own production in the 1920s after the current Marquis’ grandfather, Sem d’Angerville, challenged the blending methods of the negociants’ and then began bottling his own wines instead of selling them his grapes. D'Angerville was one of the first Burgundy domains to do this, making history and encouraging the future of the region at the same time. Today the estate is led by Guillaume d’Angerville, farmed immaculately, and is producing some of the best wines in the entire Cote d’Or.    

Winemaker
Guillaume d'Angerville

Grape / Blend
Pinot Noir

Origin
Burgundy, France

Winemaker's Tasting Notes
Historically classified Heads of Cuvée de Volnay, the Champans is the archetype of the great Volnay 1 er cru: finesse, breadth and length in the mouth with an extra of generosity and power that is unique to it. According to the vintage, it deserves 5 to 10 years of aging to be fully revealed, but it is general more easily approachable young than the Taillepieds or the Clos des Ducs.

95 Points - Decanter
The 2023 Champans is one of my favourite wines from this cellar, as it is in many vintages. It offers lush, forward black- and blue-fruit aromas, with hints of flowers, earth and leather. The supple yet supportive tannins and a plump mouthfeel (from the dense extract) lead to a lingering finish. The grapes come from d'Angerville's superb holdings here of almost 4ha. This seductive wine should open in three to five years, and will easily stay at the top of its form for 20 years or more.(CC)

95 Points - Vinous
The 2023 Volnay Les Champans 1er Cru has a delineated, intricate bouquet that opens beautifully in the glass. It is surprisingly mineral-driven given the warmth of the season, with the terroir really coming through. The palate is medium-bodied with slightly edgier tannins compared to the Taillepieds. This finely crafted, quite sapid Champans is fresh with a little more salinity, particularly toward the finish.(NM)

95 Points - Jasper Morris
Bright mid purple. This is stricter on the nose, less ripe at first but with the same rich deep raspberry fruit emerges behind, with an extra burst in the middle of the palate and a slightly more austere finish. Plenty to enjoy here and really very persistent Drink from 2033-2040. Tasted Nov 2024.

94 Points - Tim Atkin
With an average age of 40 years between the 50-year-old bit and the 2005 plantation, this cru has turned out a full-bodied, rounded wine with flowing, ripe fruits. It is the most "in place" and easy going of all the Premier Crus. Everything is perfectly in check.

94 Points - Burghound
Note: from a huge 3.98 ha parcel. This is also aromatically quite fresh with an airy mix that derives mostly from the red side of the fruit spectrum while being laced with discreet spice, floral and earth wisps. The lilting and utterly delicious middle weight flavors are not quite as mineral-driven though, unusually, they are even finer on the balanced, long and solidly complex finale. This is also excellent and worthy of your interest. Burghound Sweet Spot Outstanding!

94 Points - Wine Advocate
Even in this more charming vintage, the 2023 Volnay 1er Cru Champans is the most structured wine in the range, opening up to reveal notes of cherries, berries and peonies, followed by a medium to full-bodied, deep and broad-shouldered palate built around sweet, powdery tannins. It will reward a bit of patience. Guillaume d'Angerville and technical director François Duvivier began the harvest on September 4, 2023, picking only in the mornings, reporting yields no higher than in 2022. Supple, sensual and fragrant, these wines will offer a broad drinking window. As I've written before, followers of d'Angerville will be familiar with the protocol here: biodynamic farming, destemmed grapes, classical macerations and élevage in barrels—of which some 20% are new, with older barrels generally being retained for five vintages. These have always been seriously long-lived wines, but contemporary d'Angerville isn't quite as backward and slow to evolve as the wines were in the days of Guillaume d'Angerville's father. The use of barrels with a somewhat younger average age—even if percentages of new wood remain very modest—gives them a slightly glossier patina, especially in their youth.(WK)

Product size: 750ml